Etnia Barcelona’s Latest Is a Wearable Ode to Its Home Team
Today’s ever-changing world offers few constants to rely on. But here are two: the rising of the sun with each day and the spirited performance of FC Barcelona (Barça, for short) in every football season.
Those two seemingly unrelated phenomena have come together in the form of the Etnia Barcelona and Barça capsule, a collaboration between the esteemed eyewear maker and the legendary football club that each proudly call Barcelona home.
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The capsule, which draws inspiration from the city’s status as a hub of art, culture and technology, is comprised of seven new models blending luxury and craftwork. Each are handmade in Italy according to Etnia Barcelona’s exacting standards, which mandate the use of high-grade materials including natural acetate sourced from Mazzucchelli 1849 and high-definition colored mineral lenses.
Its centerpiece is undoubtedly the 1899 Gold, a vintage-inspired design named for the year that Barça was founded and limited to just 1,899 pairs. Retailing for $519, the 1899 Gold pays further tribute to the club with details including gilded 24-carat gold detailing and engravings of the Barça shield in the top corner of the left lens and the Barça crest on the arms.
The 1899, however, is not the sole accolade that the eyewear maker gives to its hometown team. The capsule also includes The Colors of Our History collection, which features six Etnia Barcelona designs that celebrate—and are named after—the greatest moments in the Barça men’s and women’s teams’ histories: London 1992, Paris 2006, Rome 2009, London 2011, Berlin 2015 and Göteborg 2021. In addition, each has the club’s founding date of “1899” engraved in gold at its hingers, while the arms are marked by colors that call back to the jerseys each Barça team wore during the referenced UEFA Champions League Cup final matches.
The homage that Etnia Barcelona makes to Barça—and by extension, its home—with the capsule does not end with the product. To promote the capsule, Etnia Barcelona enlisted the talents of Dutch painter Pascal Möhlmann, who has earned acclaim for his original style that merges the compositional techniques of the Old Masters with bold, contemporary references. The artwork created for the campaign had Möhlmann paint a tableau of raised arms in dynamic poses, acting out scenes of passion, excitement and exuberance, below a red banner bearing Barça’s crest and a pair of the 1899 Gold sunglasses, wreathed in a seeming halo.
This same attention to symbolism and detail is carried over to the capsule’s packaging. The boxes are marked by the printed image of the illustration Möhlmann created for the campaign and are filled with gold-stamped Fedrigoni paper in reference to Barça’s colors. Included with the sunglasses is a limited-edition postcard of Möhlmann’s campaign illustration, as well as a personalized cleaning cloth and a sunglass case made from brown or black vegan leather and marked by a logo created to commemorate the collaboration.
A shared sense of place remains a powerful sentiment in an ever-changing world, and the collaboration between Etnia Barcelona and Barça is above all things a tribute to the dynamic city that each calls home. And through it, both invite you to experience Barcelona’s greatness, no matter where home is for you.
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